CHP dissidents put demands on hold until local elections

A faction within the Republican People's Party (CHP) dissidents have reportedly decided to hold back on their demands for an extraordinary conventions until the 2019 local elections, according to media reports.

In a MYK meeting Monday, CHP deputies expressed their full support for the government against U.S. sanctions on Turkey. They said that the debates around convention should end amid the economic crisis facing the country, while some dissidents reportedly plan to hold back their demands for an extraordinary convention after the March 2019 local elections.

According to news reports, in a meeting of party dissidents Sunday, delegates said that even though they signed in favor of an extraordinary convention after the June 24 elections, they are not pursuing it anymore. The claimed that the fluctuations in Turkish lira is being manipulated by the U.S. They added that the party should unite and prepare for the upcoming elections without isolating anyone.

The CHP was shaken by some intraparty debate in the wake of its failure in the June 24 elections. On Aug. 6, the party administration announced that the dissidents, who had started a petition calling for a change in the administration on July 16, failed to reach a quorum for an extraordinary convention. The dissidents, not satisfied with the result, unceasingly protested the administration with hunger strikes, sit-in protests and resignations. Lastly, they rolled up their sleeves in preparation to hold a convention to change the party bylaws, meeting Sunday to discuss a new road map.

After the meeting, the dissidents indicated: "We promised not to take the

issue to court, and we will keep our promise. If Kılıçdaroğlu will not convene the extraordinary convention, we will use every right envisaged by the party bylaws, including a convention for bylaw changes."

Half of the invited delegates, however, did not attend Sunday's meeting. Some dissidents are reportedly planning to postpone the convention for bylaw debates until the upcoming elections and due to the crisis caused by the U.S. and the changes in the MYK.

They refused to attend the meeting on grounds that discussing a convention for bylaws would not right be when Turkey is facing a crisis. According to CHP Party Assembly member Hakkı Süha Okay, Muharrem İnce, the apparent front-runner for chairmanship within the dissident faction, wanted to ease the heated debates and postpone actions until after the upcoming local elections.